- [ Witty, humorous in the dark kind of a woman scorned and in the upper echelons of a career could possibly fathom. Something that every feminist strives for, yet hates when it’s arrived, but thanks god they came armed with an arsenal of politically correct jabs that reinforce a strong kill, regardless of who died a social death first.
- Within the first two chapters I knew that Maya is, by far, the only fictional (debatable) champion that I will bet all of my money on in the ring.
- Every millennials dream come true on getting attention from their childhood boy band crush
-Big Fan would be a great fit for someone who's in the mood to read something inspiring, light-hearted, emotional, funny, reflective, hopeful, and/or relaxing.
-Fast-paced and character driven
-Diverse characters

First and foremost, I need to directly ask the author what their Wattpad username is. Because as a former fanfic writer myself, I know one when I see one. This was a lot of fun! My ex-fangirl heart loved this ex-fangirl-turned-lover story about a political strategist getting a real shot at love with her former teenage idol. It was short and sweet, Red White and Royal Blue meets Funny You Should Ask (two of my favorite contemporary romance novels). Fan/celebrity romance stories are understandably unhinged, but I eat them up every single time. I just wish it was a bit longer, would’ve loved to see the romance bud a little more.

Love how this book breaks free of the romance monotony without being ridiculous or too cheesy. My biggest complaint is simply the topical references, which can quickly age a book in my opinion. Otherwise really enjoyed!

I heard about this book on the Bad on Paper podcast and ANY book that is compared to The Idea of You gets a read from me automatically. This is a super short book, only about 180 pages, about Maya, a political strategist trying to calm her life down after a high profile divorce. When her high school boy band celebrity crush reaches out to her for help on his comeback album, things get steamy. Basically, TIOY without the age gap, and a third of the length. Short books are sometimes good but I feel like this really could have benefitted from more pages, as the romance didn't feel very deep and I knew more about the political campaign in the book than the actual characters...but fun nonetheless.

I am not typically a fan of romance books so take this review with a grain of salt but… I was not a fan of Big Fan. The plot sounded like a more mature version of fan fiction but came off more like regular fan fiction. The plot was very high level and we didn’t learn much about any of the character. It was a very quick read but not one I’ll be going back for.

The writing is the book was great. I just wanted more of it. Maya is a political consultant who was in the center of a recent scandal. Her now ex husband cheated on her with a campaign intern (on a senator’s desk no less). Maya is turning it around though. She is working for a cause she believes in with a new candidate (kudos to Ms Romanoff for the compelling argument for universal basic income). But then a childhood crush, Charlie appears in her life. She was the president of a fan club for his boy band when they were both in their teens. He is staging a comeback and wants her help. She has to stay out of the spotlight to be a good political operative. The journey to get to the HEA is compelling. But it arrives with very little space for how this could be a lasting relationship. Perhaps the characters are too rooted in reality. I desperately wanted an epilogue. (I read an ARC, so maybe there is one there now). But all and all a fun read, I just wanted a little more

I really enjoyed Big Fan! I thought it was fast paced, but not to its detriment, and had a fun romance between two interesting characters.

Thank you for the opportunity to review - this was really fun and creative! Would definitely seek out more titles from this author.

Let’s just say i am a BIG FAN of this book! This just resurfaced so many feelings and memories of my crazy One Direction phase! It felt like I was reading a Wattpad fan fiction and being catapulted into a world where the famous, handsome singer gazes into the crowd and locks eyes with the FMC and immediately spirals into love at first.

This story is still a fangirl’s biggest dream; where your favorite childhood celebrity makes a comeback years later and you meet for the first as adults and you both immediately hit it off. At least I still dream of this happening to me hehe.

Maya’s character is very realistic and handles stressful situations as best as she can while fighting through her insecurities. The main characters are actually likable in this story and of course Charlie is so charming, I wish there was more of him in this book. The only thing that would make this a 5 star read is if this book was told from Charlie’s POV as well!

The author did an amazing job writing a short, sweet, and fast-paced story that I could not stop reading. It was so enjoyable and I would love to read more of Maya’s and Charlie’s story and how they overcome obstacles with fans and the media.

Rate: 4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

a fun, short, sexy read!

everything felt very real, and I love a book with more emotionally mature love interests. Things did feel rushed a few times, and I'm not the biggest lover of topical references in books (ex Jimmy Fallon), but this was overall a very sweet read I'd recommend!

3.75

This is if “The Idea Of You” didn’t have the uncomfortable age gap dynamic and neither the clear inspiration from HS’s real life relationships. A book for the slightly delusional fangirls that even a decade after One Direction’s ‘hiatus’ still like to escape to secret gardens in their minds when they hate it here 😉.

I enjoyed the fast pace, however, this did sacrifice some well-appreciated (sexual) tension. Writing and character development were nothing groundbreaking, but appropriate and enjoyable for the story it told. A type of book that fell right into its place of tropes and characters I enjoy. I did miss a little bit of additional info at the end about how the story with Terasa played out as it was the big point of conflict in the relationship and the character development.

Short and sweet - what a lovely read
It’s a nice change to read a romance where BOTH the characters are actually likeable and moreish.
5/5

Thank you to 831 Stories for sharing your upcoming romance fiction, “Big Fan.” This was a super short and sweet read and was to the point - all things I love! Local to the DC-area, I also enjoyed the political drama aspect and it had me thinking a bit of Shonda Rhimes’ “Scandal” - no murder but good sex. The unique aspect to “Big Fan” was the romantic male lead being the female lead’s childhood boyband crush. I think I am left more delusional and I’m now that I have a chance with Zayn Malik and Harry Styles (I would throw in Niall Horan but I am happy for him and his girlfriend).

As mentioned, this was a short read being at 160 pages. Alexandra Romanoff excelled at writing out a realistic timeline and I wasn’t left feeling like there were gaps missing between scenes. I do wish Romanoff went deeper into Maya’s mindset with more elaboration on her spiraling. As for the characters, it’s hard not to crush on Charlie and now I will be trying to reach out to One Direction members to be my plus one for friend’s upcoming wedding.

Overall, this was a fun and quick read and I loved the unique romantic pairing. Having shared the storyline to one of my best friend’s, she was intrigued by the pairing and also noted that it’s not too common. Shoutout to Romanoff calling out Louis Tomlinson in her acknowledgments!

Short but sweet, Big Fan is a wonderful romance novel from a new-to-me author. Maya is a talented political consultant in DC who just helped the president get elected...all while navigating a cheating scandal and divorce from her Kennedy-esque politician husband. Maya's trying to get through each day while attracting the least amount of notice, hard to do when her divorce was front pate news.

Charlie is a former boy-bander and current fashion designer who reaches out to Maya for help launching his new solo music career. We quickly learn that this is momentous for Maya as she used to co-run a fan club for fans of his band which was called Mischief. They meet and immediately sparks fly, but Maya's current boss has told her to go super under-the-radar so the focus is on the campaign.

One thing I loved was how seriously the book took Maya's former fan club. Charlie makes sure to mention that he'd admired it at the time, Maya makes sure to mention it in press profiles...there's no shame or stigma attached to liking the band. Which is absolutely how it should be! It validated her former and current love of the music and singers. Teen girls and their interests are often dismissed, and this book made sure to do absolutely none of that.

The romance is believable, though moves FAST, and I loved how much of Maya's work life we saw. We quickly learn she is very, very, very good at what she does.

My only criticism is I wish this book was longer! At 150 pages we speed run through the conflict and resolution. It would have been nice to let the characters breathe for a moment. However, an amazing level of detail is included and I have to commend the author for the wonderful writing style.

This is for fans of the Idea of You or any of Christina Lauren's Beautiful Bastard series -- high-powered women navigating work and romance, and taking no prisoners along the way.

Overall a wonderful introduction to the author for me, and I'm so excited to see what comes next from them. I believe this is the debut book for 831 Stories, and I'm so excited to see what comes next from the publisher!

This book was such a delight to read. You know those characters that just make you smile and warm your heart; Maya and Charlie did that for me. Their banter and character development is fantastic. I would definitely be looking forward to read more from the author.

This was so fun! Maya and Charlie were both well drawn and felt very real, and their story was fun and sexy. The book was a little shorter than I was expecting, and I would have appreciated a tad more conflict, but other than that I found it very enjoyable and I’m looking forward to seeing what else this publisher has in store!

Short and sweet - this was a delight!

Maya, a talented political strategist dealing with the fallout from her ex-husband's affair, meets her celebrity crush when he asks her to help him restart his music career. Maya has other ambitions, however, but she can't quite shake the feeling that Charlie could become someone important in her life.

The banter and simmering connection between Maya and Charlie reminded me a bit of Sally's and Noah's relationship in Romantic Comedy, which I also loved. It is always nice to read a romance between two mature, intelligent, talented, and likable characters!

Thank you very much to 831 Stories and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.